New York apartments are small enough that one shedding dog or cat can turn a couch throw, a bath mat, and half your wardrobe into a lint-covered problem within a week. Between limited closet space and no backyard to shake things out in, NYC pet owners deal with a laundry load that’s genuinely different from the rest of the country.
Brushing Beats Washing, Every Time
The single biggest lever for reducing pet hair in your laundry isn’t a better detergent, it’s a better brushing routine. The American Kennel Club’s guide to managing a shedding dog and their dog grooming guide both make the same point: hair removed with a brush before it ever hits your bedding or furniture doesn’t have to be laundered out later.
Odor Is a Separate Problem From Hair
Getting hair out of a wash cycle is mostly about the right cycle settings and a lint trap; getting odor out is about the detergent and rinse cycle actually breaking down oils in a pet’s coat that transfer onto blankets and bedding. A double rinse cycle handles this far better than a single quick wash, which is why pet bedding often needs different handling than a standard load.
Wash Pet Bedding More Often Than You Think
If your pet sleeps on or near your bed, expect to wash those linens roughly every 3-4 days rather than the weekly schedule that works for pet-free households — a frequency the Sleep Foundation specifically calls out for pet owners. Between vet visits, the ASPCA is also a good general resource on pet hygiene if shedding or skin issues seem unusually heavy.
Let Pickup Handle the Volume
A wash & fold pickup service is genuinely useful here because pet owners tend to generate more laundry volume, not just more complicated laundry — more blankets, more towels for muddy paws, more bedding changes. Customers in Park Slope, one of the most dog-dense neighborhoods in Brooklyn, are some of our most frequent repeat pickups for exactly this reason. If you’re unsure whether we handle heavily-shedding loads differently, our FAQ page covers it.
Check pickup availability in your neighborhood on our locations page.
